NBWW post

It is in moments of disaster – natural, military, or otherwise – that the value of our built environment as a form of cultural identity comes most noticeably and tragically to light. The fire that ripped through Brazil’s Museo Nacional on Monday night destroyed not just invaluable historic artefacts, but a building that stood as a symbol for both a country and a people. The erasure of the urban landscape is the erasure of identity, culture, and people.

It is notable, then, that new construction is often advertised as way for neighbourhoods to form or revitalize local identity. Skyscrapers in particular are considered icons around which urban and even national identity can hinge – imagine New York without the Empire State Building, Paris without the Eiffel Tower, Kuala Lumpur without the Petronas Towers. This week’s stories touched on the ways in we entwine our identities with our built fabric. Read on for this week’s review.

History Lost

Courtesy of Wikimedia

The fire at the Museo Nacional in Brazil is a critical loss for architects, historians, and world citizens alike. It’s unclear how exactly the blaze began, but reports indicate that funding for safety apparatuses had been reduced in past years. The Institute of Architects for Brazil (IAB) called in an open letter for the creation and maintenance of a fund dedicated to building safety in light of this tragedy.